NFL Player News

Shepherd is on track to serve as one of Aaron Rodgers' top wide receivers during Monday's game against the Falcons, Matt Schneidman of The Athletic reports.

Shepherd was only promoted to the active roster 10 days ago, but he now looks set to start across from Marquez Valdes-Scantling on Monday Night Football, with Davante Adams (hamstring) expected to be ruled out and Allen Lazard (abdomen) on injured reserve. Shepherd appeared in six games with the Packers last season, but he only had one catch for a single yard during that span. Green Bay also has Malik Taylor and Reggie Begelton on hand to mix in if they choose to deploy three-wide sets.

The Patriots elevated Zuber to the active roster Monday, Zack Cox of NESN.com reports.

This will be Zuber's second straight week on the active roster, as he logged six offensive snaps in Week 3 against the Raiders and recorded a 13-yard carry. He's considered a depth wideout, especially with Gunner Olszewski (foot) back from IR.

Olszewski (foot) has been activated off IR in advance of Monday night's game against the Chiefs, Zack Cox of NESN.com reports.

The return of Olszewski will be a boost to the Patriots' return game, but he reenters the team's Week 4 mix behind Julian Edelman, N'Keal Harry and Damiere Byrd in the Patriots' wide receiver pecking order.

The Giants signed Bachman to the practice squad Monday, Art Stapleton of The Bergen Record reports.

Bachman has passed a physical and a COVID-19 test, so he'll join the Giants' scout team this week. The Wake Forest product has yet to make his NFL debut after entering the league as an undrafted free agent in 2018, and his quickest path to a roster spot would be through special teams.

Coach Bruce Arians said Monday that Evans is set to receive medical evaluation after suffering a right ankle sprain during Sunday's win over the Chargers, Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Arians said Evans is "as tough as they come," and that the star wideout was on "a leg and a half" while playing through his injury Sunday. Evans managed to surpass the 100-yard mark and score despite being injured early, so there's reason to be optimistic that he could continue to play through the issue without missing time, but Thursday's upcoming contest against the Bears leaves only a short window for rest. Greg Auman of The Athletic reports that the Buccaneers should disclose more medical information Tuesday.

Brown caught all four of his targets for 43 yards in Sunday's loss to the Browns.

While the numbers were fairly modest, Brown set new career highs in receptions, yards and targets on a day when eight different Cowboys caught multiple passes from Dak Prescott. Brown remains low on the depth chart, but Dallas' No. 5 wideout could continue to find his way onto the box score if the team's defense remains one of the worst units in the NFL, forcing Prescott into shootouts on a weekly basis.

Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski labeled Hodge (hamstring) as week-to-week Monday, Tom Withers of the Associated Press reports.

Hodge was active Sunday, but he didn't see any action in the Browns' 49-38 win over the Cowboys after injuring his hamstring in pregame warmups. As a result of Hodge's absence, rookie Donovan Peoples-Jones served as Cleveland's No. 3 wideout, but he played only 44 percent of the offensive snaps and didn't draw any targets with the Browns racing out to an early lead and finishing with a 40:33 run-to-pass ratio on the day. With Hodge now looking doubtful for at least the Browns' Week 5 game versus the Colts, Peoples-Jones or Rashard Higgins could be featured more in three-receiver sets, but neither would represent a high-priority option in the passing game.

Wilson caught three of six targets for 34 yards in Sunday's loss to the Browns.

While he predictably didn't come close to matching his two-TD performance from the week before, Wilson still saw a surprising amount of action in another late comeback attempt by Dallas, and he even got more targets than Michael Gallup. Wilson could be less involved in the passing game Week 5, however, if the Cowboys can avoid digging a big hole against the Giants.

Gallup caught two of five targets for 29 yards in Sunday's 49-38 loss to the Browns.

While it's not a surprise to see Amari Cooper (12-134-1 on 16 targets) or first-round pick CeeDee Lamb (5-79-2 on seven targets) get more looks from Dak Prescott in any particular game, Gallup even found himself with fewer targets than Cedrick Wilson and fewer catches than Noah Brown in another disappointing performance. As long as Prescott is forced to attempt 50-plus passes per game, however, there will be plenty of opportunities for Gallup to shake off his slow start to the season.

Mickens was not targeted during his 11 snaps on offense but returned one kickoff for 24 yards and three punts for 27 yards in the Buccaneers' 38-31 win over the Chargers on Sunday.

The third-year wideout saw veteran running back Kenjon Barner vulture one kickoff return opportunity before exiting the game with a concussion, so it remains to be seen if coach Bruce Arians has designs on eventually transitioning Mickens to handling punt returns exclusively. Mickens is doing a good job in that capacity by averaging 6.0 yards on eight returns, ranking him fourth in the league among players with at least that many opportunities. With Barner's status for Thursday night's Week 5 matchup against the Bears firmly up in the air, however, it's possible Mickens handles double duty on special teams in that contest.